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Norbert Blüm was 84 years old
© APA (dpa)
Former German Minister for Labor and Social Affairs, Norbert Blüm, is dead. The CDU politician died at 84, his son told the German Press Agency in Bonn on Friday. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier praised Blüm, who was recently seriously ill, as an “outstanding personality” in German history and a passionate politician.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) said Blüm had “decisively shaped the social market economy.” Blüm died on Friday night. He had been paralyzed from the shoulders down from blood poisoning last year.
For many years, Blüm was one of Germany’s best-known Christian Democratic politicians and one of the leading representatives of the CDU workers’ wing. He was the only minister to accompany Chancellor Helmut Kohl during the 16 years of his reign (1982-1998) in the cabinet.
His most sustainable achievement was the introduction of long-term care insurance in 1995. He also made a name for himself as a human rights activist with his criticisms of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile and the apartheid regime in South Africa.
However, one of the most memorable memories was a 1986 poster campaign: Blüm took his photo in front of an advertising column, in which a poster was stamped with the slogan: “Because one thing is certain: the pension.” The short phrase “The pension is safe” became a proverb.
Rüsselsheim’s working son (born July 21, 1935) was a trained toolmaker. He did his Abitur at night high school, studied philosophy, history, and theology. Beginning in 1977, Blüm led the Christian Democratic Task Force (CDA) for ten years. After retiring from federal politics, Blüm continued to participate socially, wrote books, appeared on television as a guest on a talk show, and even did cabaret.
“He was a passionate politician and dedicated to helping shape our community, which he was and is rarely found,” Steinmeier emphasized in a letter of condolence to Blüm’s widow. “His name will always be closely related to his extraordinary commitment to pension policy.”
Reliability in action and clarity in words have always been Blüm’s guide, the Federal President said. “For him, justice, credibility, and philanthropy were not mere phrases, but the maxim of a Christian social politician.”
“Norbert Blüm was a politician who could formulate modern social policy in a way that everyone could understand,” said Merkel. He is remembered as a personality who has always been close to people. “I knew about the workbench and the ministerial desk.”
Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) noted that Blüm was deeply rooted in Catholic social teaching. “I very much appreciated his persuasion and enthusiasm for the controversial debate.”
Blüm’s role as a prominent social politician was also recognized in all parties. SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans described Blüm as “a political veteran with a direct attitude.” He was never impressed by the fact that “some of his charges for more justice and a balance of interests among the generations of his party were met with little favor,” he told news portal “t-online.de”.
The leaders of the Greens faction, Katrin Göring-Eckardt and Anton Hofreiter, called Blüm a Christian social politician, “as it is in the book.” He had rejected the official routine, he stayed with the people and he never lost sight of the weak in society. Left-wing leader Bernd Riexinger praised Blüm as the “social conscience” of the Union.
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